The government's reach extends well beyond the taxes that Washington collects and the deficit spending and borrowing now surging.

A very rough extrapolation from an evaluation of the federal regulatory enterprise by economist Mark Crain esti­mates that annual regulatory compliance costs hit $1.187 trillion in 2009.

Given 2009's actual government spend­ing of $3.518 trillion, the regulatory "hidden tax" stood at 34 percent of the level of federal spending itself. (Because of the recent federal spending surge, this proportion is lower than the near-40 percent level of recent years.)

The dramatic reality that regulations and deficits now each exceed $1 trillion a year is an unsettling new development for America. In 2008, regulatory costs were more than double that year's $459 billion budget deficit. Now, the 2009 deficit spending surge has catapulted the deficit well above the costs of regulation ($1.414 trillion compared to $1.187 tril­lion, respectively).

The game has changed, with respect to government spending versus govern­ment regulation. Although the spending and deficit levels eclipse federal regula­tory costs now, unchecked government spending can translate, in later years, into greater regulation as well.

The Weidenbaum Center at Washington University in St. Louis and the Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia, jointly estimate that agencies spent $54.3 billion ro adminis­ter and police the regulatory enterprise. Adding the $1.187 trillion in off-budget compliance costs brings the total regula­tory burden to $1.24 trillion.

The 2009 Federal Register dropped significantly from its all-time high of 79,435 pages in 2008. It fell nearly 14 percent to 68,598.

Federal Register pages devoted specifi­cally to final rules fell by 21 percent, from a record 26,320 in 2008 to 20,782 in 2009.

In 2009, agencies issued 3,503 final rules, an 8.5-percent drop from 3,830 rules in 2008.

The annual outflow of roughly 4,000 final rules has meant that nearly 60,000 rules have been issued since 1995.

Although regulatory agencies issued 3,503 final rules in 2009, Congress passed and the president signed into law a comparatively few 125 bills. Consider­able lawmaking power is delegated to unelected bureaucrats at agencies.

According to the 2009 Unified Agenda, which lists federal regulatory actions at various stages of implementation, 59 federal departments, agencies, and com­missions have 4,043 regulations in play at various stages of implementation.

Of the 4,043 regulations now in the pipeline, 184 are "economically signifi­cant" rules wielding at least $100 million in economic impact. Assuming those rulemakings are primarily regulatory rather than deregulatory, that number implies roughly $18 billion yearly in future off-budget regulatory effects.

The five most active rule-producing agencies-the departments of the Trea­sury, Agriculture, Commerce, and the Interior, along with the Environmental Protection Agency --- account for 1,763 rules, or 44 percent of all rules in the Unified Agenda pipeline.